It may be 30 years since The Breakfast Club first premiered on February 15, but the movie is still just as relevant today as it was in 1985. Just like in the movie, kids in high schools today are still separated out into cliques, adults still don't understand teens, and detention still blows. (I'd assume. I've never been in it, but I empathize with those who have. Especially if it was held on a Saturday.) But while you've probably seen the movie a ton of times, you may not know these Breakfast Club facts, and knowing them really enhances the viewing process.
Even though the movie itself never gets old (director John Hughes is a master at that), it's always fun to know a little more about your favorite films. Then you can be that person who shouts out trivia the next time you watch with friends. They'll love you for that. No, really. These facts are cool. If people told them to me while I was watching I wouldn't get mad at all. Besides everyone's seen The Breakfast Club, so you wouldn't really be ruining the experience or talking over lines people haven't heard 10 times already.
So celebrate the 30th anniversary of one of the most iconic '80s films with these fun facts.
Judd Nelson Was Almost Fired
Molly Ringwald revealed that director John Hughes almost fired Nelson for being rude to Ringwald off set. She explained the situation to the New York Times in 2010.
[Judd Nelson] was doing this sort of method-actor thing, I think, and he was being very provocative with me. Making jokes — I think he made some sort of blind joke, and my dad was blind — he was just trying to get under my skin, like Bender tries to get under Claire’s skin. It really didn’t bother me, but John [Hughes] was extremely protective of me and it just infuriated him. And he almost fired him, and we all banded together and really talked John out of firing Judd.
That Bender Joke Doesn't Have a Punchline
According to Judd Nelson, his "naked blonde" joke was totally ad-libbed. In the scene when Bender is crawling through the air duct to get back to the detention room, he starts telling himself the following joke, but the punch line is never revealed because he falls through the ceiling and can't finish it.
A naked blonde walks into a bar with a poodle under one arm and a two-foot salami under the other. She lays the poodle on the table. Bartender says,'I suppose you won't be needing a drink.' Naked lady says...
Originally the writers wanted a joke that ended with the punchline "forgot my pencil" which is what Bender tells the group is his reason for coming back. But no one could think of a joke with that punchline so Bender ad-libbed the joke about the naked blonde instead.
Thanks to a thread on Reddit asking people to come up with an end to his made-up joke, we have a semblance of answer after all these years. One person suggested this as the end of the pun.
The blonde says "I definitely do, after what just happened to me."The bartender says "I'm so sorry. What happened?"The blonde says, "Well, my boyfriend and I were just about to make love, when out of nowhere the crazy bastard says 'I'm gonna pound my favorite bitch with my giant sausage'. So I grabbed them both and got the hell out of there!"
Ah, the powers of the Internet.
Allison's Dandruff Was Just Cheese
When Ally Sheedy's character sprinkles dandruff on her picture to make snow, she was really just shaking parmesan cheese out of her hair. You can decide for yourself whether that's more or less gross.
Anthony Michael Hall's Real Family Was in the Movie
His mother Mercedes Hall and younger sister Mary Christian played his on-screen mother and sister.
John Hughes Plays Brian's Father
When Anthony Michael Hall's character gets picked up at the end of the film, director John Hughes is playing his father.
The Actors Were Sent Into a Real High School For Experience
Nelson detailed the experience to Movie Fone in 2010.
Ally [Sheedy], Emilio [Estevez], and I went; Ally didn't like high school for real and after one day was like, "I'm not going back to get that feeling of high school." It was great. I could buy beer. I told them I had a fake I.D. [Students] would drive me back to the hotel after school and ask, "Why are you staying at a hotel?" and I said, "My dad's in jail."
Estevez was immediately recognized from his time in The Outsiders, but Nelson lived it up and even got sent to the principal's office for being in the hall after class started.
The Film Was Written In Two Days
Conversely it took me about a week to write this article so I guess I don't have the talent (or more accurately the perseverance) of John Hughes. Sigh. Curse my short attention span and desire to watch Netflix in between successfully written paragraphs.
Ally Sheedy Suggested That David Bowie Quote
The actress told Movie Fone that she found the film's opening quote and showed it to Hughes who eventually lead the movie with it, but never told her. She found out when she saw the film along with everyone else.
Bender's Costume Was Just Judd Nelson's Clothes
Anthony Michael Hall says he remembers the day he was cast because Nelson was there in all his Bender glory. "He had the boots, the overcoat. Judd was just there, bringing it," he told Movie Fone.
That Lipstick Trick Wasn't Real
During Molly Ringwald's Reddit AMA in 2012, she admitted that she can't put her lipstick on using her boobs.
John Hughes wrote it but never actually thought about me having to do it. He kept putting it off until the end of filming that long scene. I kept bringing it up, like, "Hey. We gotta figure this out. Are we going to have robotic breasts?" Finally we decided it was better to see less and let everyone assume that I was particularly skilled.
Ah the magic of movies.
The Breakfast Club is being remastered and rereleased on Blu-Ray March 10, and will also be shown in select theatres.
Images: Universal Pictures (5); giphy (3); celebritiesandmovies/Tumblr; makeagif
